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MCSA 2000 - recommended elective(s)?

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Hi all.

Having lurked for a while I thought I might pick everyones' brains.

Having worked for about 4 and a half years for a 'Power Dialler' company supporting a proprietary product (which uses Windows NT4 Server and AIX Unix), I've chucked it in and I'm now studying for my MCSA.

I'm following the MCSA 2000 path (seems to me that there are still lots of companies on the 2000 platform) and intend to take the 'conversion' exam at the end to get the MCSA 2003 certification as well (hopefully covering all bases).

I passed the 70-210 exam last week and realise that I now need to pass 70-215 and 70-218. However, I'm unsure what the best elective would be to take for the fourth and final (MCSA 2000) exam.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there an exam that is particularly useful / highly valued? Or should I think about the Security or Messaging track perhaps?

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Personally I'd recommend the Server 2003 track - there's very little difference with just a few extra bells and whistles - and would save you money/time doing the update exams.

For an elective I'd suggest the Security (it's 299 for 2003 track, not sure with the 2000 without looking it up).

Would you mind clarifying why it isn't worth getting both the 2000 and 2003 qualifications? It's only one extra exam after all, and time / money aside, I thought that it might demonstrate to a potential employer that I can work with both 'flavours' of the OS. I was looking at it as almost a '2 for the price of 1' if you see what I mean!

If you advise that it isn't worthwhile (are employers no longer interested in the 2000 qualification?) then I'll do as you say and change onto the 2003 track.

Moving on, if I recall I read an article or two recently saying that a security cert was one of the 'hot' qualifications at the moment. I could quite easily cultivate an interest in this area so I think that it could well be worth pursuing.

I'm still not 100% certain why everyone is against following the 2000 track (even at this late stage). I'd have thought that it would look better on a CV to be able to show MCSA 2000/2003 than just 2003. However, as all the posters in that thread say to follow 2003 only, then that's good enough for me!

Going back to my original query, I think that I'll take the necessary elective(s) to follow the Security track.

I'm still not 100% certain why everyone is against following the 2000 track (even at this late stage).

Click to expand...

Not against it at all. It just makes a little more sense, value for money and future proofing, that's all. There's no right or wrong answer but we're suggesting that the 2003 track is probably a better bet. The time/money spent upgrading the MCSA 2000 can go instead on being one step closer to your MCSE. As I said earlier, Server 2003 is fundamentally 2000 with extra bells and whistles - and on your CV you'd just list your MCSA or MCSA because that's what you are.

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